Phil Ranstrom

Welcome to Phil Ranstrom’s Documentary website.

Here, you will learn a little bit about Phil’s work and interests and watch clips of his documentary films at the links provided on the right.

Please let us know how you like this website, by leaving a comment. If you’d like to contact Phil Ranstrom, please go to the CONTACT page.

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Phil Ranstrom is an award-winning writer, director, and producer, traveling around the world to catch some of the most poignant human interactions on film. His work transcends genre, class, and race as he pushes the limits to capture truly organic experiences.

Phil Ranstrom is a filmmaker based out of Chicago. In he work, he finds inspirations from his both his surroundings and passions to create some of wide range of work.

In addition to being a freelance filmmaker, Phil serves as the President, Writer, Producer and Director of Maxwell Street Documentary LLC. He has been a trusted member of the company since 2006.

He is currently working on his documentary film Pierogi Blues, the story of how the blues migrated from Chicago, USA to Warsaw, Poland. This film tells the story of the radical social, cultural and political changes that it inspired within two very different but paralleling communities. Pierogi Blues is scheduled to release independently soon!

PhilRanstrom.net is dedicated to Phil’s projects and personal blog related to film and documentaries. More information can be found in the documentary section regarding the titles below:

2015: Pierogi Blues (Documentary) (documentary director)

2008: Electrified: The Story of the Maxwell Street Urban Blues (Documentary short)

2006: Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street (Documentary)

1986: House Music in Chicago (Documentary short)

1985: Reclaiming America (TV Short documentary)

1983: Uptown Christian Soldiers (TV Short documentary)

1983: I Remember Riverview (TV Short documentary)

1982: The Cocaine Express (Documentary short) (documentary director)

Phil often draws inspiration from his parents. His mother was an award-winning investigative journalist and his father was a jazz guitarist. Between the two of them, Phil was able to develop a strong sense of compassion, understanding, dedication, and commitment to the greater good. He enjoys improv comedy and high-quality screen writing.

For more information on Phil Ranstrom, be sure to visit his film blogs and social media profiles.